Paste Magazine recently released what they think to be the 40 best cartoon characters of all time. I’m not going to argue with the list even though it does provide for some great conversation. I was a little surprised to see a lot of recent cartoon characters make the list and even place above such classics as Goofy and Sylvester J. Pussycat but what really made me happy was to see Larry the Cucumber at #30. As a church worker and someone who has seen all the Veggie Tale cartoons a couple times over I actually got excited to see Larry show up on a list that honored both Ned Flanders and Cartman. This is what Paste had to say about our favorite animated cucumber:
“After all the cultural good that Christianity gave us over the last two Millennia, the second half of the 20th century wasn’t exactly a high-water mark. But in the 1990s, Veggie Tales became the exceptional piece of genius pop culture in the typical Christian bookstore. And Larry the Cucumber was the biggest reason why. Don’t believe me? Watch the video below.”
While “I love my lips” is certainly one of Larry’s greatest hits, these next two are my favorites of the silly songs collection. Enjoy!
Dear god, I’m trying hard to reach you
Dear god, I see your face in all I do
Sometimes it’s so hard to believe in
Good god I know you have your reasons
Dear god, I wish that I could touch you
How strange sometimes I feel I almost do
And then I’m back behind the glass again
Oh god what keeps you out it keeps me in
Today is Maundy Thursday where we celebrate the last supper Jesus hadwith his disciples before his crucifixion and resurrection. I found myself on a google rabbit hole searching images and representations of the last supper and came up with some beautiful, contemporary and even some parodies of the meal we rememer tonight. Here are some of my favorites.
Hey everyone, the high school retreat is set for Dec. 4-6 up in Big Bear! It’s going to be a great weekend full of relaxation, reflection and fun. Be at the church at 5:30 on Friday the 4th so that we can grab some food and hit the road. We will be back at church around 12pm on Sunday so that we can meet up with everyone after church. The retreat costs $100 for each student and includes all food, transportation and lodging. If you have any questions please feel free to email Steve at steve@westwoodpres.org.
In my six years of living in Los Angeles post college I have only come to know the names of two of my neighbors, Marrion and Joe. It’s not that I’m anti-social or a hermit, I just never took the time (or honestly had the desire) to get to know the people who lived around me. My local community was limited to those I was living with and didn’t expand far beyond the other side of my front door. As I have talked with friends, I’ve found that this is not an uncommon experience for people my age in big cities. We can be seen as the most disconnected people in the world, yet I have 524 friends on Facebook, 44 followers on Twitter and have my own blog. I think all of this proves that I am not a person who finds identity or community within my local networks but within my social networks. Even my church is not a local network for me… I live 22 miles away, other members commute from all areas of the city and the only place we interact are Sunday mornings from 9-10:30.
I guess what I’m getting at here is that we need to re-imagine the local church. The church used to be the center of a neighborhood where it was more of a community center than a once a week spiritual destination. Perhaps we should be focusing on our social networks, the places where we are already plugged in and invested, to practice our faith. How would your life change if you saw all of your social networks as a place and a community of faith? What happens when Facebook or happy hour after your work day takes a turn towards the spiritual? I have a lot of questions circling my head about how all of this plays out but I think a shift is happening and I don’t know who the church can/will shift with it.
Hey everyone, just a reminder that this Sunday is our church’s annual benefit musicale. This year it is going to be super kid friendly with tons of familiar Disney songs that I’m sure they know by heart (I know I can’t get “It’s a Small World” out of my head, no matter how hard I try). Not only will it be a lot of fun but this is one of our largest fund raisers for the ministries of the church. So please join us at 5pm on Sunday for a great night and an even better cause.
Get ready middle schoolers, the craziness of CHAOS starts tomorrow from 4-5:30! We bumped up the time to help those families that have younger kids coming to W@W but don’t worry, we are still going to have our own time of music, games and more. See you tomorrow from 4-5:30!
Just a reminder that we are having a high school day of service at the PATH mall tomorrow. Meet at church at 8 am (I’ll have donuts and coffee waiting) and we will be back at 3 pm. This is a great way to get a jump start on the service hours you need for school. Please let me know if you plan on coming out!
Hey everyone, just a reminder that the high school group is going to the Putting Edge for some glow in the dark mini golf and then grabbing dinner at Johnny Rockets tomorrow night. Meet at WPC at 5pm so that we can neon-ify ourselves before heading out for the evening and we will be back by 8pm. The whole evening costs only $20!!!! That includes golf and dinner!!! Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!
I have been the teaching assistant these past two weeks for a class on postmodern theology, film and youth culture which has used movies as a lens into the shifting from a modern to a postmodern mindset (we can get into that later if you are interested). In our class we have watched the movies Fight Club, Josie and the Pussycats, Memento, Spirited Away, Saved and yesterday we watched the film Twilight. If you are not familiar with vampire/romance saga that has swept through our culture feel free to read up on in here, but the entire story of the novels and film were only a stepping stone onto the reality of pluralism and the acknowledgment of the “other” that is facing us.
The conversation after the film didn’t revolve around the cultural relevance of the story or the phenomena of its popularity, but the symbolism of learning how to live with incredibly different people. In the context of the film, vampires (both blood sucking and “vegetarian”), warewolves and human have all figured out a way to live together and even fall in love. While we are not faced with the mythical pluralism of the books/movies, we are faced with how to live along side people who are drastically different than who we are. As Christians, and humans, we live in a world where we try to coexist with people of alternate lifestyles, religious beliefs, political ideology and ethnic backgrounds while trying to hold onto the core of our spirituality. It’s a daunting task to say the least.
What we can learn from Twilight is that the “other” is not as scary as we might think and must not be pre-judged and avoided. As a Christian, it is our calling to love them as a fellow creation of God. All of this is swimming around my head as I put together the subject matter for the fall and I think it is an unavoidable aspect of discipleship. It is because we can no longer live inside our comfortable Christian bubble (if there ever was one) that we are going to be dealing with discipleship and pluralism in the high school group this fall. More to come on the exact teaching points but I am a firm believer that we cannot be a person of faith and avoid this issues. If you are interested in finding out more about spiritual pluralism, please check out beliefnet at pewforum.
Hey everyone, the high school retreat is set for Dec. 4-6 up in Big Bear! It’s going to be a great weekend full of relaxation, reflection and fun. Be at the church at 5:30 on Friday the 4th so that we can grab some food and hit the road. We will be back at church around 12pm on Sunday so that we can meet up with everyone after church. The retreat costs $100 for each student and includes all food, transportation and lodging. If you have any questions please feel free to email Steve at steve@westwoodpres.org.
In my six years of living in Los Angeles post college I have only come to know the names of two of my neighbors, Marrion and Joe. It’s not that I’m anti-social or a hermit, I just never took the time (or honestly had the desire) to get to know the people who lived around me. My local community was limited to those I was living with and didn’t expand far beyond the other side of my front door. As I have talked with friends, I’ve found that this is not an uncommon experience for people my age in big cities. We can be seen as the most disconnected people in the world, yet I have 524 friends on Facebook, 44 followers on Twitter and have my own blog. I think all of this proves that I am not a person who finds identity or community within my local networks but within my social networks. Even my church is not a local network for me… I live 22 miles away, other members commute from all areas of the city and the only place we interact are Sunday mornings from 9-10:30.
